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Von Miller Admits He "Could Have Stood Taller With Colin Kaepernick"

Source: Dustin Bradford / Getty

Von Miller gets very candid about his 2020… so far.

 

2020 sucks. It’s no secret about it how terrible this year has been for many people, even all-pro NFL player Von Miller. In a recent interview with ESPN, Denver Broncos outside linebacker Von Miller spoke on the ups and downs he experienced. Miller became one of the 6 million-plus who caught COVID-19 and one of the first high-profile NFL players with the contagious virus. Miller, who is asthmatic detailed his battle with the coronavirus, revealed he knew something was wrong when he started experiencing strange symptoms and couldn’t catch his breath at night.

“Man, I was extremely nervous. It’s all over, you see the videos of the hospitals, the stay-at-home orders, all of these things going on and suddenly I’m one of the first guys [in the NFL] to get it. I was scared, I ain’t even going to lie, I was scared,” Miller told ESPN, “I’ve got asthma. I was like, ‘This thing could kill me.’ And when you can’t catch your breath in the middle of the night, when you can’t breathe, it’s hard not to be scared. I eventually just did everything they say to get better, but yeah, initially, I was scared as hell. I tell these guys take it seriously, or they might be scared as hell, too.”

Miller’s fight with COVID-19 was the precursor to what would be a tough year. Miller would recover from the virus, but now he’s fighting another battle, and that’s to get back on the football field. A freak ankle injury Miller suffered during practice likely has ended what would have been his 10th season in the NFL. But, he isn’t letting the unfortunate setback get him down. Despite being an established veteran and experiencing the highs of winning and Super Bowl, he says he  “hasn’t reached the high point, that’s my goal, keep going for a better high point.”

If there is any silver lining in Miller’s 2020, he has become even more active in the fight for social justice as well. Miler is now using the platform the NFL has giving him to fight for social justice, and in a recent essay for Time Magazine wrote:

“The love of my country compels me to use it.” In the essay, Miller described publicly the racism he encountered from the time he was an elementary school student through high school, college, and into his NFL career — he called it pain that “sears me every day now.”

Miller even mustered up the strength to speak to a large crowd at a Black Lives Matter rally in Denver in June, just weeks after recovering from COVID-19. He even admits that he feels he could have done more in support of Colin Kaepernick as well.

“I felt like I could have stood taller with [Colin] Kaepernick at the time; I could have supported him better.”

We wish Von a speedy recovery so he can get back to doing what he does best on the football field.

Photo: Dustin Bradford / Getty

Von Miller Reveals He Was “Scared As Hell” During His Fight With COVID-19 & More In Candid Interview  was originally published on cassiuslife.com